Palestinian police clash with gunmen

Angry scenes in Gaza City tipped over into violence

By Kylie Morris in Gaza City

Fighting has broken out in Gaza City between gunmen and Palestinian police.

The clashes were centred on the home of Gaza's chief of military intelligence, Moussa Arafat.

At the height of the trouble, as many as a thousand people had gathered outside the residence, in one of Gaza City's main streets.

Shots were fired and stones and bottles thrown at the building.

Palestinian police stationed throughout the city converged on the crowd and broke up their demonstration.

It appears the people were supporters of the Popular Resistance Movement.

'Military action'

On Sunday three of its members were shot and wounded by police at a Palestinian checkpoint.

The men were returning from what the movement describes as a military action against an Israeli settlement in the north of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority says the men were shot by police on high alert because undercover Israeli agents were believed to be operating in the area.

But one of the leaders of the Popular Movement - a Fatah activist, Mohammed al Baba - has told the BBC the police knew who the men were.

The Palestinian Authority is under extreme pressure to rein in activists engaged in anti-Israeli attacks.

In refugee camps in the Gaza Strip late on Monday, the Popular Resistance called on Palestinians not to accept the apparent Palestinian Authority crackdown and accused the Authority of acting in collaboration with Israel.